The VICE Guide to the Balkans - Part 5

Bosnia is the only Islamic country in Europe. So far... Before the war in the 90s, most Bosniaks practiced a very moderate, beardless form of Islam--they were basically Muslims the same way most English people are Christians or Jedis. These Friday Muslims still make up the majority in cities like Sarajevo and Tuzla, but three years of hellish onslaught by Serb and Croatian forces in …

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Bosnia is the only Islamic country in Europe. So far... Before the war in the 90s, most Bosniaks practiced a very moderate, beardless form of Islam--they were basically Muslims the same way most English people are Christians or Jedis. These Friday Muslims still make up the majority in cities like Sarajevo and Tuzla, but three years of hellish onslaught by Serb and Croatian forces in the 90s managed to galvanize Muslim identity in the countryside and open the door for national Islamic revival which the charities and governments of the Arab world, specifically Saudi Arabia, were more than happy to throw money at. North of Sarajevo is a village, rumored to be funded by Saudi money, where the residents adhere to the Wahhabi branch of Islam: full beards on the guys, full niqab on the women. They're like the Amish of Bosnia. Except with more advanced weaponry.